Thursday, July 21, 2016

Ezra's Children's Journeys

Ezra Rutner was a first cousin to my great grandmother, Esther Rutner Joshowitz. He was born to Chaim Mordechai & Pessel Adler on June 15, 1878 in Dulfalva, Austria-Hungary (today Subcarpathian Ukraine.

Birth of "Ezre Rutner;" Dulfalva; 1878

Along with his wife Gittel Joszipovics, Ezra had at least 5 children, all born in Dulfalva:

Mendel (born 1900)

Shmuel (1902-1944)

David (1905-1993)

Baruch (1907-1907)

Ruchlya/Roszi (1909-1944)

Ezra died in Dulfalva in 1911, aged only 32 of pneumonia--his profession was that as a farmhand/day laborer.

Death record for "Ezer Rutner," 1911

I have no mention of Mendel after his birth, and Baruch died as an infant. But what happened to Ezra's other three children? Unfortunately I didn't discover much of a happy ending.

Shmuel Rutner

Birth of Smil Rutner, 1902

After the 1902 birth of "Smil," I had no more mention of him. But it turns out that is because he did not live in Dulfalva as an adult.

Shmuel Rutner's Yad Vashem Page of Testimony

According to Shmuel Rutner's son Shlomo, his father was born in 1902 (on a different date than on his birth record) in "Dulev" to Ezra and Gittel. Shmuel was married to Malka, and the family lived in Munkacs (today's Mukachevo, Ukraine) where Shmuel worked in a sawmill. Shmuel died in a Hungarian work camp in Ukraine.

Shlomo also filled out Pages of testimony for his young siblings who were killed in Auschwitz in 1944:

There was another daughter Gita who survived and filled out some pages of testimony as well, using her maiden name of Taub. She lived in Petach Tikva, Israel in 1956 when the pages were filled out.

Shmuel's son Shlomo made it to what was then the Palestine Mandate in 1947--and was arrested as an illegal alien.

Shlomo Rutner Police Document

Shlomo Rutner entered at the port of Haifa in 1947, aged 20. He even got a mug shot--and fingerprints which I have on another page. Here his mother's maiden name is given (Hershkowitch), and he is married to what looks like "Kilbert Margowitz." I don't know if he was deported or allowed to stay--but at least he was back in Israel when filling out his father's Yad Vashem page in 1993.

I'm going to try to see if he's still alive or if he has other family who ended up in Israel.

David Rutner

David Rutner Birth; Dulfalva; 1905

David Rutner was born on May 18, 1905 to Ezer and Gittel Jozipovics Rutner.

From Pages of Testimony, I know that David's wife Cili Gelb was killed in Auschwitz as were their daughters Gita (born 1934) and Eszter (born 1936).

Unlike his brother Shmuel, David Rutner survived the Holocaust. In 1946, he filled out a form with the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission.

David Rutner; Soviet Extraordinary State Commission; 1946

But he seems to have left no trace between 1946 and the 1970s--when he got a Social Security number in New York State.

David Rutner Social Security Death Index

David Rutner died in July 1993 in Brooklyn, New York. He did not get a Social Security Number until 1978-1979. Was he in Europe still this whole time? I do have confirmation that this is the same David Rutner (beyond having the same birthdate on this David's birth record):

David Rutner Social Security Application Information

David listed his birth place as "Duluvo" and his parents as "Ezro Rutner" and "Gizela Iosipovich."

Anyone know where he was for the period between 1946 & 1978?

Ruchlya/Roszi Rutner

Ruchlya Rutner Birth; Dulfalva; 1909

Ruchlya (on her birth record) Rutner also ended up in Munkacs. And she was also killed in the Holocaust.

Rozsi Rutner Yad Vashem Page of Testimony

Rozsi (daughter of Ezra and Gitel) Rutner was killed in the Auschwitz Crematorium in 1944. Here, her husband is given as Abraham, which from his own Page of Testimony gives his surname as Cik. The notification was made by Rozsi's daughter Tova Veinberger of Bnei-Brak, Israel in 1998.

I know that Tova survived, but I don't know if any other of Rozsi & Abraham Cik's children did. Those who were killed include:

Jidesz (1930-1944)

Ezra (1932-1944)

Eszter (1934-1944)

Szura (1936-1944)

Joinesz (1938-1944)

So while I did find out what happened to at least most of Ezra's children and grandchildren, there really wasn't the happy ending I was hoping for.